Gimme Some Sugar

Blog Roll

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

USA Today:
The wife of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer
acquitted in the killing of Trayvon Martin, has been sentenced to one
year probation and 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty
to a misdemeanor perjury charge for lying at her husband’s bond hearing.

Shellie Zimmerman, in court Wednesday, admitted that she perjured
herself before Judge Kenneth Lester at an April 22, 2012, bond hearing
for her husband. At that hearing, she told Lester, who was then
presiding over her husband’s case, that the couple had little funds.

But in a court filing, State Attorney Angela Corey said Shellie
Zimmerman perjured herself by failing to reveal that George Zimmerman
had collected more than $100,000 through Internet donations.

Together, the Zimmerman’s tried to mislead the government as to
George’s financial resource through a hamhanded attempt at money
laundering.

George Zimmerman instructed Shellie Zimmerman on how to transfer
money from his bank account into hers and his sister’s while he was in
jail in April 2012, according to recordings of jail calls released by
the Florida State Attorney’s Office. According to an affidavit, Shellie
Zimmerman transferred more than $74,000 to her personal account days
before the April bond hearing. Nearly $50,000 was transferred to an
account held by Zimmerman’s sister.

Taped phone calls between the couple revealed that they had discussed
the money transfers in code to hide the funds, according to the
affidavit. Prosecutors allege that Zimmerman and his wife talked about
$10, $20 and $100 to mask the fact that they were referring to thousands
of dollars. The calls also showed that George Zimmerman instructed his
wife to “pay off all the bills,” including payments to American Express
and Sam’s Club.

Trayvon Martin was a kid without a criminal record. Yet if you ask
conservatives, Trayvon was the criminal and this pair of grifters are
American heroes. As a term of her probation, Zimmerman “cannot possess,
carry or own a firearm and must get permission to own any other type of
weapon.”

Too bad we couldn’t at the very least get that sort of restriction placed on her husband.